Episodios
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I have used stories in leadership for some time now and have found them to be such a powerful way to engage people as well as a means to appeal to people’s heads and hearts. Years ago, I started studying how other speakers I followed used stories and I took notes.
As I’ve learned more about the power of storytelling from a theoretical perspective, so much has clicked for me in terms of how to use storytelling as a leadership tool and strategy. There is no doubt that stories drive authentic leadership, allowing you to humanize yourself and display vulnerability in front of those you lead. This can be pivotal in building trusting relationships. If you’re looking to build trust, cultivate vulnerability, and build team relationships on a foundation of psychological safety, start telling stories.
Daniel Coyle, author of The Culture Code, reminds those leading others through change, “Stories are not just stories; they are the best invention ever created for delivering mental models that drive behavior.”
In the vulnerable space of a story is an opportunity to create a connection. Connections pave the way for relationships. Relationships become the platform for which we can show our full range of humanity and hold space for other's full range of humanity.
Stories can be used to inspire, motivate, build trust & rapport, model humanity, humility, vulnerability, &imperfection, instruct, demonstrate, teach, mentor, celebrate, and advance organizational culture.
I often have the opportunity to teach leaders how to use stories during leadership trainings I facilitate. It is one of my favorite activities to facilitate and to observe. Most leaders walk away feeling a sense of lightness in their leadership they couldn’t previously find. For many, this lightness is a gratitude for the permission to share parts of themselves that are imperfect, goofy, messy, soft, sensitive, joyful, and playful.
In this episode, we will talk through how to use stories, as well as tips for telling impactful stories.
Links Mentioned:
Book: The Culture Code by Daniel CoyleCheck out my other podcast: The Shameless Mom AcademyLearn about my speaking, training, and coaching: saradean.comConnect with me on LinkedIn: saradean.com/linkedin
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While I’m not much of a history buff, I am fascinated by humans and human behavior - even ancient human behavior. So, when presented with the opportunity to examine historical models of leadership in my Masters of Organizational Leadership program, I was all in.
In studying leadership models across centuries and then within the decades of the last 120 years, there are undeniable patterns of leadership that are mostly about power and dominance and almost exclusively about the power and dominance of men.
In this episode, we will look at historical models of leadership which for centuries involved leaders who could easily be characterized as narcissists with their tyrannical, manipulative behavior in which they were commonly charming and gaslighting their followers, especially women, in equal proportion.
When we look at these models of leadership, we can see how these depictions of leaders over time have continued to “inspire” models of leadership today. We have repeatedly created systems and structures of leadership that center leaders in roles to have power OVER their followers rather than power WITH their followers.
Understanding the patterns present in these systems can be useful in addressing, disrupting, and dismantling the sexist power structures that commonly exist in these systems, even as we claim to have created new systems that include equal rights for all regardless of gender.
This episode will open your eyes to how we are still very much settling for components of historical models of leadership to the great detriment of women and people who carry marginalized identities. Yet, hope is not lost. There is still time to do better. And, we will.
Links Mentioned:
Book: Burnout by Emily Nagoski, PhD and Amelia Nagoski, DMACheck out my other podcast: The Shameless Mom AcademyLearn about my speaking, training, and coaching: saradean.comConnect with me on LinkedIn: saradean.com/linkedin
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As you spend time within your team and organization ideating, creating, and growing, are you conscientiously co-creating a place where each person can participate fully with their best gifts? Is enough there safety and trust for people to take creative risks and ask seemingly silly questions? Have you created a culture where people feel safe to make mistakes?
An excerpt from an exhibition on place at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington DC defines “place” as… “about geography - but also about memory and imagination. People make places even as places change people. Places are secured by individual and collective struggle and spirit. Place is where culture is made, where traditions and histories are kept and lost, where identities are created, tested, and reshaped over time.”
When we think about the places you co-create with those you lead, how are you creating a place with intentionality and sensitivity to the impact that place will have on all those who inhabit it? People make up a place and each person’s unique gifts, talents, and struggles make that place entirely unique. For a place to be secure enough to build culture and traditions, there must be a foundation where the basic needs of security and safety are met. People must have enough trust in this place and the people who inhabit it that they can show up without fear of judgment, criticism, or harm. From there, the people can co-create a place where members can connect with others over shared values, common goals, and a similar sense of meaning and purpose.
In this episode, we talk about the importance of place, steps to take to establish place, and how to overlap and collaborate with other people in other places in mutually beneficial and ethical ways.
Links and Resources Mentioned:
National Museum of African American History and Culture Gonzaga University Center for Community EngagementCheck out my other podcast: The Shameless Mom AcademyLearn about my speaking, training, and coaching: saradean.comConnect with me on LinkedIn: saradean.com/linkedin
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Recent data overwhelmingly tells us that the number of women in leadership still doesn’t come close to representing the number of women in society. According to Leanin.org’s Women in the Workplace 2023 Report:
Women represent roughly 1 in 4 C-suite leaders, and women of color just 1 in 16.Progress for early-career Black women remains the furthest out of reach. This year, for every 100 men promoted from entry level to manager positions, only 54 Black women were promoted. After rising to 82 in 2020 and 96 in 2021, the promotion rate for Black women to manager has fallen back to lower than it was in 2019.Because of our “broken rung” system, in a typical company, men end up holding 60% of manager-level positions, while women hold just 40%. As a result, there are fewer women to promote to director, and the number of women decreases at every subsequent level.The impact of “microaggressions” experienced at work by women or any other marginalized group are anything but “micro”If women are to occupy more leadership roles, it is imperative that we start intentionally taking up more space. We must demand we take up more space. In this episode, we will talk about how women are socialized to shrink our bodies, hold back our ideas and opinions, and play small in all aspects of our lives. From there, we dig into specific steps you can take to start taking up more space and stop accepting without question the leadership, thoughts, and opinions of those who have more power than you (ie: men).
If you’re ready to take up more space, use your voice in new ways, and take a seat at any table, this episode is for you.
Links Mentioned:
Leanin.org Women in the Workplace 2023Check out my other show: The Shameless Mom AcademyLearn about my speaking, training, and coaching: saradean.comConnect with me on LinkedIn: saradean.com/linkedin
